Ore-concentrating apparatus



July 3, 1,92 4 1,675,955

' H. E. PETRO ORE CONCENTRATING APPARATUS Filed June 26, 1925 2Sheets-shat l Jfowax'd .11 1 217 0 @2416 (Wild July 3, 1928.

. 1,675,955 H. E. PETRO ORE CONCENTRATING APPARATUS Filed June 26, 19252 Sheets-Sheet JIOWMZZMiro abtozmq Patented July 3, 1928.

HQWARD PETRQ, or, semi LAKE CITY, UTAH..

ORE-CONCENTRATING APBARATUS.

Application filBd-IURC' 26, 1925. Seria1 .NoL-39,746.

Thisinventionrelates-generally to appara- Figure QiisafragmentaI detailplan view tusfor;concentrating-and separating valu otithe. concentratingpan-operating-mechaablemineral, products from waste materials; nisneav 5but relates more particularly to that type Figure 3' is a: fragmentalvertical elevaof concentrating apparatus wherein an oscil tion, partlyin section, of. thepan and the lating concentrating panis employed'asdispower drive therefor.- tinguished trom'jigs, shaking-tables, andthe Figured is adetail view, partly-in section, like. ot 'one'ot thedischarge spigots.

One object of the'invention-is-to provide Figurefiisadetail view,-partly in section, a concentrating apparatus wherein an oscilof :oneendof the discharge-conveyor;

lating concentrating panmaybe reciprocated- Figure dis a detail view,partly in section, in: a, vertical path, whereby to more comof'one'oftheadjustable supporting elements. pletely and thoroughlyseparate themineral Referring more in: detail= to the accomproductstrom the wastematerials. pany-ing drawings, in which like reference Another objecto'f'the'invention-is to procharacters are used to designate like partsvide means torregulatingand varying the throughout, thenumeral ldesignat-es a plurange of both theverticalv reciprocation and rality=ofpiers or abutments of'any desired the horizontal oscillation; sizeandconfiguration, and designed to sup- A further object of the inventionisto pro port' the upright standards 2, which are convide a concentratorof the type described, nected-together-at their upper extremities bywherein the oscillating pan derives a simul meansof cross beamsgenerally indicated by taneous vertical reciprocation by reasonof thenumeral- 3; The uprights 2 and the its manner of support rather than bysome cross-beams-3 may beconnected together inauxiliary'mechanicalmeans; any manner desired, such as forinstance, by

A further object of the invention is to pro-- rivets, welding, orthe-like, and said memvide a concentrating apparatus wherein thebers'arepreferably braced by inclined strut luable mineral products maybe removed members 4', wherebyto providea substantial from the apparatusat a point where the and rugged supporting frame work for the agitationof the material is greatest, and concentrating apparatus. The crossbeams wherein the waste materials are removed" at 3" are each preferablycomposed of a:pair of a point where the agitationis least. channelirons-3 secured together in spaced lVith these objects in view theinvention, relation-witlrthe webs of the channels posie broadly, stated,consists in suitable supports tioned-back toback, thus forming openslots from which a concentrating pan is suspended or channel ways 5,running throughout the by means offlexible cables. Suitable power lengthof the fabricated beams. This conmeans are employed to oscillate the panstructionis clearly-shownin Figures 1 and 6;

about a vertical axis, which movement, due The concentrating'pangenerally indicated to the flexible suspension of the pan, gives by thenumeral 6' is suspended from said the latter a simultaneous verticalreciprocaoverhead beams 3 by means of a plurality of tion, a singlebearing member being emflexible cables 7, said cables being secured toployed to confine thepan againstrthe lateral the beams 3':and to the pan6 through the movementduring saidioscillation and recip; instrumentalityof eye-bolts 8 and 9, respecrocation. Y tively. The eye-bolts 8 aremounted in the One embodiment of the invention is fully open slots 5 ofthe cross-beams 3, and are ad 45 described in the followingspecification and justalole longitudinally thereof by means ofillustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in clampingplatcs 8 carried bythe bolts and which engaging the upper and'lower faces ofsaid Figure 1is a perspective view of the appabeams, said plates being adapted to beratus. securely clamped to the beams at any desired point by means ofjam nuts Whereas, the eye-bolts 9 may be secured in any suitable mannerto the upper rim of the pan 6.

The construction of the concentrating pan 6 is best disclosed in Figure3, wherein is shown a cylindrical container or pan having a flatbottom-11 and a relatively deep straight side wall 12. A settling "ringor baflie 13 is shown mounted concentrically within the pan andsupported in spaced relation with respect to the bottom and side wallthereof by means of supporting and spacing members or brackets 14. Thering supporting members may be riveted i or otherwise fixedly secured tothe ring and side wall of the pan and, if desired, may also serve asmeansto which the eye-bolts 9 are secured, it being noted, however,that, if desired, the eye-b0 ts may be cast or otherwise formed integralwith the ring support ing members.

It is to be further noted that the settling ring 13 is not of the samedepth throughout its length, but is preferably graduated in depth fromahigh point 13" to a low point 13 thus forming a uniformly varyingclassifying passage betwen the bot tom edge of the ring and the bottomof the pan 13, for the purpose of enhancing the separation of themineral from the waste materials.

The pan 6 may be of any suitable material, such as heavy gauge sheetmetal, and is preferably provided with an auxiliary wear plate 14 ofcast iron, said plate being slightly arched or convex for the purpose ofaiding the separation of the materials being worked. The bottom 11Of'the pan is provided with a plurality of discharge orifices 15,positioned adjacent the periphery thereof for permittingvthe removal ordischarge of the mineral products recovered. The wear plate 14,.ifdesired, may beprovided with apertures 14 adapted to register with theapertures 15 of the pan, to facilitate the ready egress of the mineralproducts. The orifices 15 are controlled by suitable gates or spigots 16which, as shown in Figure 4:, are pivotally secured to the bottom of thepan by means of stud bolts 17. Coil springs 17 are associated with eachstud bolt for the purpose of confining the gates or spigots 16 tightlyagainst the under surface of the pan, but, at the same time allowingfree manipulation of said gates by means of suitably provided operatingmembers 18. It is apparent from Figure 4 that the gates 16 may be in theform of flat plates suitably apertured as at 19 and adapted to be turnedabout the stud bolts 17 as pivots to bring the apertures 19 of the gatesinto partial 'or total registration with'the apertures 15 in the bottomof the pan to thereby regulate the rate of discharge of the mineralproducts from the. pan. Any desired number of the discharge orifices 15and control gates being designed to receive a short spindle or shaft 21carried by the bottom of the pan 6. The spindle 21 of the pan isdisposed concentrically of the pan on the outside of the bottom thereof,and projects axially therefrom into the bearing 20 said spindle beinprovided with a flange 22 by which said spindle may be secured to thepan bottom by bolts, rivets, or any other suitable securing devices.

Suitable power means to oscillate the pan is provided in the form of arotating crank 23 and pitman 2 1-. The crank 23 is driven by means ofbevelled gears 25 and 26, the gear 25 being secured to the crank shaft25 mounted upon a suitable pier or abutment 1 in a verticallydisposedbearing 25 whereas the gear 26 is secured to a countershaft 27carrying suitable drive pulleys 28. The crank 23 is connected by pitman2 1 to the bottom of the pan 6, said bottom for this purpose beingprovided with a ball stud 29 for engagement with a split ball socket 30,carried by the pan end of the pitman. The crank 23 is provided with aball pin 31 for engagement with a split socket 32 carried by the crankend of the pitman, said crank pin 31 being adjustable with respect tothe crank through the instrumentality of longitudinally distributedapertures 23 provided in said crank whereby to regulate and adjust thethrow of the crank and the resulting degree of oscillation of the pan.

An inclined supply chute or trough 33 communicating with a suitablesource of supply delivers material to the pan at a point between theside wall thereof and the inner settling ring 13. Upon operation of thepan, as will be hereinafter described, the material is separated intowaste and mineral, the latter flowing to the outer edge of the panbottom and being discharged through the orifices 15, whereas the wastepasses down between therim and side wall of the pan, under the rim, andthence upwardly along the arched wear plate to the center of the pan.For the purpose of removing the waste material collecting in the centerof the pan, an endless conveyor generally indicated at 34, is provided,said conveyor being mounted for pivotal movement about a shaft 35,mounted diagonally upon the cross beams 3. The conveyor 34 comprises apair of spaced longitudinal beams 36 carrying a rotatable shaft 37 attheir adjacent free mmeas;

ends, .said shaft.- carry ing a pulley 38, which, together with apulley;39,. carried by the shaft :35, provides asu-pporting and driving meansfor. the conveyor belt 40. Thebelt i0 isprovided with a.v series ofsuitable buckets 41 whichare preferably perforated as at il whereby to.permit the working fluid entrapped in said buckets to drain back intothe concentrating'pan. If desired, the shaft 87 may be adjustabiymounted in the beams 36,. as shown. in Figure 5, for purpose of.adjusting the tension of The shaft; 35and conveyor 34: are driven fromthe countershaft 37 by means of a the AJLLU 42, thus utilizing a singlesource of power to drive both the concentrating pan and the wasteremoval conveyor. by reason of its-pivotal movement about the shaft35,1nay be'adjustably positioned with respecttotheconcentratingipan, andto securethe. conveyor, in any desired position, suitable means such asa cable may be employed.

From the foregoing description 1t 1S, ap-

parent that the entire weight of the concentratingpan and contents aresupported from aboveby. means. of the cables 7. It is also apparent thatthe pan, when oscillated by the pitman 24,.will,.due. to the partialtwistingand untwisting of the cables 7, be

given a, vertical reciprocation of 1 an extent.

to be determined by. the positionof the eyebolts 8 with respect to thepoint of intersection 44 of the cross beams and also the degree ofoscillation of the pan, the single vertical: bearing 20 serving not onlyto prevent lateral displacement of the. pan due to the motionrof. thepitman, but alsoto confine the vertical .reciprocationof the pan to avertical path. It is to be notedthat the throw ot the crank23 is sotimed with respect to the vertical reciprocation of the pan that thedead center points between, the crankandpan occur at points of'maximumelevation of thepan, whereby the gravitational pull. upon the pan may beutilized to oarry ithe crankpast bothdead center points. This featureiszclearly illustrated in Figure 2,. which shows. the pan in itslowermost positionor. its normalposition of. rest.

The operation of the device is as follows: The eye-bolts 8, theconveyor. 3- and the crank pin 31having beenadjusted in accordancewiththe material to be .worked,,the zipparatusis put in motion-andmaterial supplied tothe'panbyrthe chute 33 between the settlingring 13and the side wall 12 of the pan. Due to the combined oscillation andreciprocation of the pan, as described, the materialisregularly andperiodically agitated by a combined centrifugal and up and down movementwhich causes the heavy and valuable products to be forced to theperiphery of the bottom 11 0:? the pan to be there the The conveyor 34,.

discharged through the-orifices ;15, ,while the lighter and waste.materials WOIk. down under, the settling ringand up into 3116 6811? terof the pan where-they are removed by' theiconveyorv get; It isto benoted in this connection that the rawi material isfed to the pan at apoint where the agitation is greatest, the waste materialbeing removedfromthecenter of the pan where the agitas tion is least, this manner ofsupplying mate: rial to the pan and removingthe waste therefrom insuringthe greatest possible percent: age of recovery. It is to be furthernoted that the, material being worked is charged into'the. pan at apoint between the pan rim and the settling ring and preferably at thepoint where the ring is of greatest depth.v As the pan isoscillatedclockwise andcounterclockwise, the material is gradually. shifted fromthis point in. either=direction, due principally to ,its own-inertia,functioning as the direction of rotation of the pan is reversed. Thismovement, coupledwith the simultaneous rise and fall ofthe pan. bringsthe larger portions of the mass tothe top and to points most remote fromthe point of maximum depth of the ring. The tapered formation of thering 13: permits the larger portions ofthe waste materialto. passreadily under the ring atthose points atv which said materialswill"naturally accumulate.

The valuable products separatedfrom the waste and dischargedfromthepanthrough the orifices 15, are received by the usual-iconcentratelaunder 45. In order to regulate the rateof discharge the valves 15 aremanually adjusted to bring the apertures of the gates thereof intototal-0r partialregistration with orificeslii, or, ifdesired, the gates16.,may. be provided with a plurality. of apertures varying in size. sothat any one of saidiapen tures may. be placed in. registrationwith. anorifice 15 to vary the rate of discharge-from the pan. The wastemateriah removed ,by the conveyor 34 may. be dischargedupon an overheadlateral conveyor (notzshown) to be. dischargedv in any convenient point.

In conclusion,.it is tobe noted that while a preferred embodiment of theinventionhas been herein described and illustrated, such description andillustration isfor. the purpose of example only and not as defining thelimits of tlielinvention, which are-to be determined by the scope of.the appended claims.

Having thusdescribed the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A concentrating apparatuscomprising a pan, a spindle carried bythepan, a guide bearing, said spindle beingslidable androtatablewithinvthe bearing,.a,st,1pport ovenlying the pan, flexible means-forsuspending the-pan from. the..support,., andvmeans tov oscillate the panabout the spindle as an cated.

axis,'the points of suspension of thepan on the support being fixedagainst angular movement with respect to the axis of oscillation wherebyto impart to the pan a simultaneous movement of verticalreciprocation.

2. The apparatus described in claim 1 wherein adjustable means areincluded between the flexible suspension means and the support wherebythe points of suspension of the pan with respect to the support may bevaried to alter the range of vertical reciprocation of the pan.

3. In a concentrating apparatus, a concentrating pan comprising a flatbottom'and a cylindrical side wall, a settling ring mounted within thepan above the bottom thereof, said ring being of varying depth andspaced from the side wall of the pan whereby to produce an annularchamber communicating with the center o'f-the pan by means of an annularopening of varying cross-sectional area.

4. A concentrating apparatus comprising a concentrating pan, means forconstraining the concentrating pan to rotary and vertical slidingmovement about a fixed axis, a support having members overlying the pan,longitudinally inelastic and laterally flexible supporting elementshaving their upper ends secured to the supporting members and theirlower ends secured to the pan at spaced points around the peripherythereof and means for oscillating the pan, the points of suspension ofthe pan on the support being fixed against angular movement with respectto'the axis of oscillation whereby the same will also be simultaneouslyrecipro- 5fThe apparatus described in claim 4, wherein the panoscillating means includes a flexible power connection whereby the. panmay be positively and continuously oscillated throughout the range ofits vertical reciprocation.

6. A concentrating pan including an annular baflie mounted therein inspaced relation to the sides and bottom of the pan and defininga'material receiving compartment between the battle and pan sides, saidbafiie being of varying depth and defining a classitying passage,tapered in cross-sectional area, between the baflie and the bottom ofthe pan.

7. A concentrating apparatus comprising a'concentrating pan, a support,means to flexibly suspend the pan from the support, guide means toconstrain the pan against lateral movement, and means to rotarilyoscillate the pan about a vertical axis, the pan suspension means beingsecured to the support and fixed against angular, displacement withrespect to the axis of oscillation of the pan whereby upon oscillationof the pan said flexible suspension means are alternately inclined withrespectto the support to alternately raise and lower the pan.

8. The apparatus described in claim 7, wherein the pan carries aspindle, and wherein the guide means comprises a hearing engaging thespindle to confine'the rotary oscillation of the pan to a fixed axisextending through said spindle.

9. The apparatus described in claim 7, wherein the pan suspension meansare flexible non-extensible members whereby a simultaneous movement ofvertical reciprocation is imparted to the pan due to the twisting anduntwisting of the flexible sus pension members when the pan is rotarilyoscillated. 3

10. A concentrating apparatus comprising a concentrating pan, a support,means to flexibly suspend the pan from the support, a spindle carried bythe pan, a bearing engaging the spindle, said spindle and bearing beingcapable of relative sliding and rotary movement, and power means tooscillate the pan about an axis extending through the spindle, thepoints of suspension of the pan on the support being fixed againstangular displacement with respect to the axis of oscillation of the panwhereby to impart movement of rotary oscillation and verticalrectilinear reciprocation to the pan.

11. A concentrating apparatus comprising a concentrating pan, a support,means to flexibly suspend the pan from the support, and power means torotarily oscillate the pan about a. fixed vertical axis, the points ofsuspension of the pan on the support being fixed against angulardisplacement with respect to the axis of oscillation of the pan wherebyto simultaneously reciprocate the pan rectilinea-rly with respect to theaxis of oscillation. v

12. The apparatus described in claim 11, wherein means are provided tovary the points of suspension of the pan from the support whereby toalter the range of vertical reciprocation of the pan.

13. A concentrating apparatus comprising a pan, a settling bafliemounted in the pan in spaced relation to the sides thereof and definingwith the sides a material receiving compartment, said bafl'le being alsospaced from the bottom of the pan and defining therewith a materialclassifying passage of tapered cross-sectional area, and means tooscillate the pan to shift the material in the compartment back andforth along the baiiie whereby to cause the particles of material topass beneath the battle and through the tapered classifying passage atpoints corresponding to their respective sizes.

14. The apparatus described in claim 13, wherein the pan issubstantially circular in form and the settling baflie is in the form ofa ring.

15. The apparatus described in claim 13 wherein the pan is substantiallycircular in form and the settling bafiie is in the form of a ring ofvarying depth.

16. The apparatus described in claim 13 wherein the pan is substantiallycircular in form and the settling bafiie is in the form of a ring ofvarying depth, and wherein the material is charged into the pansubstantially at the point wherein the ring is 10 of greatest depth.

17. The apparatus described in claim 13 wherein the battle is annular inform and wherein the pan is mounted for rotary 0scillation about asubstantially vertical axis. 15

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

HOWARD E. PETRO.

